Silent Waters
by Gaaraslovexp
Summary: No water has never been faltered, touched, disturbed...but it can stay still for a long time. You can't tell if it's been through a storm, or a drought. It's still there. It's silent. Still. Until something creates a ripple. AU- Modern-day Japan. schoolfi
1. Prologue Part One

_"Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me_…," Sakura Haruno sung to herself as she pulled her long bubblegum pink hair into a messy bun. She made a face as she pulled on a loose strand, not liking the feeling of those dry ends. Her mother poked her head in.

"Sweetie? You're going to be late again."

"Mmhm," the teen replied, pulling a bobby-pin out of her mouth. "I'm aware of that, mom. But I know I'm definitely late when I hear Ino's screaming." She said, giving her mom a nice smile before stretching.

"Okay…oh! You're kendo suit is ready by the door, so grab it! And you need a new uniform soon. That one is getting a little small, you know."

Sakura looked down to see that what her mother said was true. She hasn't really had time to scrutinize it. The skirt was….a bit high, and the shirt…a bit high also. And the color's were fading from constant use and washing.

"I guess I do….I'll talk to my homeroom teacher today. If I can just buy it at the front offices, I'll bring some money tomorrow."

"Bring some today, just in case." Her mom said, putting some folded laundry on Sakura's bed. "Now, you should go! It's 7:30 already."

"Ok, then!"

Sakura rushed out the door, and was greeted by two loud certain blondes.

"Sakura-chan!"

"Hey, forehead! This loser followed me." Ino said. Her very light hair was pulled into a pony-tail, and long bangs covered half of her face. She was pointing a thumb at the boy next to her.

"Ino! I did not! Ready Sakura?"

"As ready as I ever will be, Naruto."

"Neh, Sakura…," Naruto started after a few minutes of small talk and chuckles together.

"Hm?"

"You heard about that new gang around? Some 'outcast freak' moved in the suburbs a few weeks ago, coming to our school. Me and the boys heard he was a killer."

Sakura frowned. She didn't like it when Naruto brought up things about gangs. Getting Naruto out of the gang issue he was in took a heavy toll on her and her other friend, Sasuke.

"Naruto…,"  
"D-Don't worry, Sakura-chan! This isn't about me! I'm just worried about you."

"Why me?"

"….from back then."

Sakura almost stopped. But she forced her legs to keep moving. "It's fine. I'm sure they didn't hear about it."

Naruto hesitated before saying, "I know Sasuke can take care of himself. But you need to watch yourself."  
With that, Naruto stopped talking until they reached their high-school's gates. The sign read: **Okinawa City Central High School.**

XXx

Almost 2 years ago, a 15 year-old Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha stood back-to-back in a dark alley off a quiet city road. Two apartment complex's loomed above them to their left and right. They were surrounded.

"You think you can take him back, can't you?" A dark figure chuckled.

"You're gonna havta' go through me first, pretty." Another one hissed, slouching over.

"Over my dead body," Sasuke's smooth, confident voice informed.

"I'd love to comply," another raged, twisting a knife in his hand, light flashing venomously off of its reflective surface.

"Touch us, and you're dead." Sakura said, voice cracking.

This brought extreme laughter to all the person's around her. "Listen, sweet-cheeks, you ain't got half the strength to take even one of us out."

Sakura smirked. Then lifted the machine gun. "I'm sure this does."

_Click._

The sound of screaming and heavy gun-fire filled the quiet block as Sasuke and Sakura quickly killed the most ruthless gang in southern Japan.

When the two were done wiping the smeared blood off of their faces, they walked toward the sound of police sirens that broke though the silence of the shadowed city surrounding them.

XxX

**Kay dudes, prologue part uno. It's very short, I understand this, but all prologue's are short. Part dos right after. **

**Review or die, please and thankyou. **


	2. Prologue Part Two

XXx

PSYCHOBLABBLE!

XxX

"Wouldn't he want to avoid us, then?" Sakura asked later, after school ended. She was carrying a new, fresh-looking uniform under her arm. "He would probably want to challenge Sasuke." Sakura giggled. "You know, Naruto…you don't even know what he's like. He probably wants to stay away from everyone." "Neh, Don't you have kendo club today?" Naruto asked suddenly. … "Shit!! I totally forgot!" Sakura shouted as she ran back toward the school.

"…again." Naruto added for her, shoving his hands in his pockets, smirking.

As Sakura ran back to the school, she mentally slapped herself. 'Late…again! Gai-sensei's gonna _kill_ me…'

"Sakura, look out!"

'Eh?' Sakura thought to herself as she turned. "Wha-,"

Sakura felt like she ran into a pole suddenly.

"Ow!" She shouted as she squeezed her eyes shut and backed off. "My freaking gosh, who the hell got in my way?!" she angrily accused as she picked up everything she dropped. Looking up with a glare, she froze in place.

"G-," She couldn't finish. It was like every nerve in her body jolted. She was paralyzed, being sucked into the light eyes of the slouched figure that stood in front of her. Sakura figured, 'it _must _be the aura that this very tall, skinny boy is giving off.'

True, this boy was very tall, and very light-looking. But she had no idea as to what lay beneath that heavy clothing. He was wearing black cargos, and a deep green thin-looking shirt that had a hood, and very long sleeves. Towering over her by at least a foot, his wide eyes bore down on her. Questioning.

They asked, 'Why are you just standing there?' in an almost menacing way. But not quite. But poor Sakura answered the question as if he had actually asked it.

"Oh, um, I didn't mean too, I was just startled," her voice trailed off. "Sorry, I-,"

"Sakura! You should really watch where you're going, idiot."

Sasuke's voice chimed as he strolled past her and the boy.

"Sorry again, Gaara."

Yes. That boy, of course, was the one and only Gaara, the one that Sakura had heard and been warned about only that morning.

XXx

'I was ready to attack….I really was! I felt it, the threat…that god damn threat that **never goes away**! Why won't it **go away?!** I can't stand it! The pressure, the feel.

**Touch. **

_I can't stand it..._

But, for once….it was soft. I thought it was soft!

_It won't hurt._

And it didn't!'

Insane words ran through Gaara's head. They were silence, grinding through his teeth, horse whispers, SHOUTS!

…Then they were gone. Like the hurricane moved through.

'NO!

It was just the eye of the storm because they **always COME BACK. **

….And then they leave again. Too many eyes…too much deceiving.

Lies. They're ALL **LIES!'**

We went through this before. Not again.

His head slouched, like his shoulder, like his entire demeanor. His figure screamed defeat. Tamed. 'This creature has been broken.'

It still has its personal Hell that burns.

'It'll burn through. There has to be an end. My sanity has its _limits_. It'll take control…._yes_!'

Eventually.

It's happened before.

"I'm **INSANE!"**

Only make your stay worse. No matter how many times something living is broken….it'll heal. But in Gaara's case, when this…**thing**….heals….it's more like poison. It's better when he's unresponsive. When he's dead on the inside. Because then, he's broken. For him, it's better to be broken than healed. Because being healed…is being **insane**.

XxX

**End prologue. Wow guys, I hope I got my point about Gaara's insanity point right. The bolded words are like….hm…ok just imagine the joker talking…or some completely psycho person pacing back and forth, roughly pulling at their hair and muttering to themselves psychoblabble. Gritted teeth, hisses and such….that was that whole section thingy. I'll have a few more in the story, to explain how Gaara's sanity is going. So yeah. I'll give a Psychoblabble alert in the beginning if I do. **

**Review or die, pleaseandthankyou.**

**P.s- please give me real reviews, not OMFG PLEASE UPDATE SOON I LOVE IT!! **

**I appreciate the love, but keep it on the down-low. Tell me how to improve, what to check…stuff like that. **

**Loves. **


	3. Chapter 1: Oblivious

Chapter One: Oblivious.

XxX

"Thanks for the warning, Sasuke, but I think you were a bit late." Sakura informed the person next to her. Sasuke shifted the weight of his bag on his shoulder.

"I figured you'd see him. Didn't think you were that stupid. He stands out like a blossomed cherry tree in the middle of winter."

"You give him too much credit," Sakura said, laughing. "More like a dead tree in a valley of cherry blossoms."

"A whole valley, eh? You give humans too much credit."

"It was an example," Sakura pointed out.

"Yeah, so was mine."

"Fine-even." Sakura said before he could say anything else.

Nothing else was said as the two made their way to the gym.

After Kendo practice, Sakura made her way back herself. Sasuke stayed behind to help get things ready for the national competition that was coming up. Sakura didn't want to be near him anyway. He beat her twice today. She hated being beaten. He could at least hold back a bit for once, so she could actually feel like she belongs in the club.

"You should just stick to your dreams of being a doctor," He said after helping her up from her defeat. That only made her feel worse.

"You know what, Sasuke? Why don't you fight someone that can actually beat you? Or am I the only one?" She scoffed, walking away.

Sakura had no idea that Sasuke was trying to help her.

And Sasuke, once again, felt like hitting himself for being so clueless. "Girls are sensitive, you know." Naruto had told him after Sakura slapped him once. If he had known it was coming, he would have caught her wrist.

How the hell would he know? He didn't concern himself about complicated thoughts of how not to hurt a girl with words.

'How the hell can words hurt someone?'

Like he knew.

XxX

Gaara watched as the girl with weird pink hair walked away from the school. He shifted in the shadow's of the bleachers, staying out of her view. But he still watched her. He didn't take his eyes off of her. She touched him. The girl must have been pretty stupid. It was hard not to see Gaara. Nobody's ever run into him like that. Maybe a little bump in a middle of a big crowd, but the chances of Gaara being in a big crowd are close to zero.

A beetle flew in Gaaras face. He blinked, and retreated farther into the shadows. He looked away for a second, only a split second. When he looked back up, she was facing him. She was looking directly into his eyes, which widened in surprise. He stepped back even more, somewhat stumbling. Something was up with her look. He caught himself before he fell to the ground, banging up against the bleachers. It wasn't dark enough. She could see him clearly, because he moved that little bit. And she was looking into his eyes like they were glowing! She knew exactly where they were….even though she was at least 200 feet away, and he was in shadows.

Then she took a step forward.

That's when Gaara ran. He ran as fast as he could, weaving in and out of the poles and huge steel supports. He was out of her sight in a matter of seconds. Before he turned the corner, he faced her, and glared. Then he was really gone.

XxX

Sakura made a face.

'What the hell was that? I make a move to say sorry for earlier and he totally ditches the scene- …DID HE JUST GLARE AT ME?!'

"Oh, no you don't!" She shouted angrily as she dropped her things and sprinted to the track.

"HEY! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!" She ran steadily, pacing her arms and spinning around sharp corners swiftly on one foot. She was confident enough to catch up to Gaara, no matter how much he wanted to get the hell away. When she got around to the soccer field and track, she spotted him jumping a fence and walking away, back to her. She gave a smirk.

"Hn. Sucks for you, Gaara. I know that trail like the back of my hand." She gave another grin before running back to the gym. Right next to the back door was another fence. She climbed over it and slyly snuck across a small creek, passed the parking-lot, and jumped over the same fence Gaara did and crouched as she crawled across it and behind a big oak tree.

Why is she going through this much trouble to say sorry to a boy that would be sorry for not letting her say sorry for running into him earlier? Well, the reason makes just about as much since as the entire situation. Uhm, that would be none.

Sakura waited and watched as Gaara slowly rounded the small shoulder, not quite sure as to what she was going to do when he passed by. Before she knew it, he was 10 feet away. But then he stopped.

'Oh, no, keep going!' Sakura silently ordered.

"I can feel your distress. Why don't you come out?"

As soon as Gaara's voice came to her ears, she felt like her whole body turned to ice, her blood boiling in its very veins. She was forced to speak, even if she once again was struck paralyzed by him.

"Ah-I!" She stuttered out. His voice was completely monotone. It was hard to tell whether what he said was a question or a statement.

Sakura slowly got up, bangs shadowing her eyes. Gaara took a step back.

"Y-you…,"

Sakura got a hold of herself. "S-sorry about ramming into you earlier. I don't know why I wasn't paying attention. I guess you should make yourself more obvious when I approach you next time. I couldn't really tell you were there."

"Ye-!"

"Oh," Sakura then started, forgetting the feeling Gaara gave her. "And you _glared_ at me. You have some nerve glaring at a girl who wanted to say sorry to you! And I just came out of kendo, too!" She scolded, taking a step forward. She had a finger pressed to his chest.

Gaara froze. She was touching him again. Her finger bore into his chest like a drill. That little spot burned. He stepped back a few times and glared at her again.

"I don't like it when you touch me like that."

…Bold is an understatement of how what Gaara said to her sounded.

It was so out there, it seemed like it echoed throughout the entire area. Sakura turned red.

"You know, you don't need to make it sound like that." She muttered. "It was just a telling off thing. Can't you take a little joke?"

Gaara stepped forward.

"And that was really loud. Can't you tune it down a bit?"

Another step.

"I mean, if one of my friends heard you…and….,"

Another step.

Gaara was now about an inch away from Sakura.

"Uh-uhm…," She nervously looked down. If she looked up, she was afraid she might meet his eyes. He lifted a hand and attempted to brush her hair away from her hidden face, but he couldn't bring himself to touch her. Then he pushed past her, almost making her lose her balance.

Sakura was stunned by this action. Spinning around in a fume, she shouted, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! PUNK!"

XxX

"Stupid jerk!" Sakura screamed as she slammed her door and threw herself on her bed. "I can't believe he keeps on doing that! Such a jerk!"

She glared at her headboard and wondered why she was letting like this get to her.

"He's just some stupid jerk. Let it go."

She exhaled, relaxing her face. She figured she would do her homework, walk around the block, then go to sleep.

After finishing up an essay, she stretched her stiff limbs and pulled a light jacket on.

"Time for a walk," she told herself. Tenten lived down the street, so Sakura stopped there and chatted for a bit.

"You've seen that kid Gaara, right?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, but he's always late for class. He's in my math class, and has the highest scores. And when the period ends, he stays in there. I think he waits till the halls are empty to leave for his next class."

"He's not very nice."

"He has no friends."

"None that go to school. He's probably with some gang." Sakura stated crossly.

Tenten tensed up a bit at Sakura mentioning gangs, but she shook it off.

"Well, I guess I should get home. It's a little dark, and my mom wanted me to eat my dinner at least once a week,"

Sakura laughed. Tenten smiled and said goodbye.

XxX

The food that her mother was cooking smelled very good to Sakura. Seasoning and herbs lightly hung in the air, making the food-deprived stomach of Sakuras' ache.

"Mom! What cookin'?"

"Fish!"

'Mmm…,' Sakura thought as she pulled off her shoes and pulled her slippers on.

XxX

As Sakura slept, she had a dream.

_I have ears. My tail has a mind of its own. I'm yellow. There's a scalpel next o my, on the steel table. And blood._

"GET AWAY!"

_Blood from the roof of the café dripped on my nose. I looked to my right and saw a creek flowing. The sun shined on it. It looked like a thousand diamonds strewn across a blue blanket. A voice next to my ear told me, "Stay still."_

"_Yeah, right!" I screamed, but nothing came out. I was now hanging off the roof. There's a witch to my left that's holding needles. They drip with poison. _

_I'm back to normal, running through snow. Someone comes to save me. But he dies. At the bottom of a hill, I see a cabin. It's a store. It's dark, and I'm inside. There are two boys here. One of them is the one I love. Someone appears next to me, and it's my best friend. Looking into a stained mirror, I don't see anything. I look at the backroom. There's a couch, and now I'm watching a movie. When I walk out the back door, I'm in a car. I'm pregnant. The boy I love is next to me. "Where are we?" But nothing comes out again._

_It's been 6 months. His light eyes turn to me, and say, "Why are you just sitting there?"_

_Monotone. _

Gasping, Jolt. Sweat.

Sakura jolted awake, giving a small gasp, clutching her pillow. She was drenched in sweat, her shirt sticking to her back. She moaned and turned around, wondering why it was so hot in her room. Looking at the clock, she figured she would sleep in today.

She slowly drifted back to sleep.

XxX

**So, I hope you guys can try to translate that dream. **

**It's hard, so give it a nice try. Well, who it is is obvious, but, you know. Review, and be thankful that I got this far because my back is killing me. **

**Loves. **


	4. Chapter 2: Hints

Chapter 2: Dangerous Sanctuary

Chapter 2: Hints

Warning: psychoblabble.

XxX

A glare can't bring a house down.

A glare can't kill someone.

A glare can only express the feeling of wanting to bring a house down or killing someone.

Gaara knew this all too well. For the hundredth time in his life, he stood outside the gates of his 'home'. It passed time better than taking the time of actually going inside. Because Gaara not only wanted to bring this house down, but he wanted to kill the people inside it. The best part of it(to him) was that they know he wants to kill them!

And Gaara found it amusing that they wanted him to change.

Because if he didn't _secretly desire_ to kill them, they couldn't care less if he changed or not. They just didn't realize that it was them that needed to change! Because then, maybe he wouldn't want to kill them so badly!

No…They were far to naïve to comprehend this.

_Selfish. _

Soon, the devil was on the doorstep. When he walked in, the dark atmosphere became ostensibly darker. Someone in kitchen muttered, "Gaara's home."

"I know," came a grim reply. Gaara watched from the darkness as A figure came to the lit kitchen doorway. He didn't blink as the man said, "You're late," and, "Where have you been?" and, "You know you have a curfew."

The red-head wasn't one for answering, or talking for that matter, but tonight, I felt like he could get high off of toying with fear.

In monotone, he said, "I was standing outside for a while. I was here by the time you wanted me to be, you just didn't notice. Unless, you changed the curfew. Are you trying to control me? Do you think wrongly accusing me of such juvenile crime, that you can gain control of such-,"

"Enough!" the man called. Gaara knew well enough that the man was indeed trying to control him, but not in the way that Gaara suggested.

Psychiatrist.

Therapy.

Drugs.

Threats.

Some worked, some didn't. The threats were as harmless as the words themselves. "Baki," Gaara's voice rolled around the dark hall, seemingly echoing throughout the house. A small eye twitch was all that came.

"You should watch yourself."

With that, Gaara swiftly moved past him, and disappeared up the stairs to his room. Baki was trying to conjure up something to say back to him, but it wasn't working.

XxX

Gaara thought a lot. He was never with anybody. He was never in the presence of his siblings, or foster-father. If anyone else was in the house, it was one of Temari's vile friends, because Kankuro seldom had someone come inside the house. And Baki was home only on occasion. So, Gaara was always alone, having conversations in his head. Sometimes he made them up, sometimes he pretended he was talking to his brother about things. He tried to imagine one with Temari, but he didn't really think they would have anything to talk about. He thought about things like friends, weakness, powers, enemies, things most people have.

But the thing he thought about the most was fear.

Whether it was his own, or someone else's. You either run to someone, of from them.

This is how he sees it:

To them: comfort from the fear itself.

From them: they fear you.

His family mostly ran from him. Always with their back to him. People on the streets just didn't face him. He felt as though the whole world turned away from him.

Except…that pink haired girl.

She was facing him, standing still.

She chased after him today, and snuck up on him!

Was she mad?

His reputation must not of hit her ears. But, no one in general public knew about him, and the chances of her hearing about him opposed to someone he passes on the street are high.

So, why only her? He looked evil enough. Maybe she was just really stupid. Like, one of those 'special' people.

Gaara figured he would scare a 'special' person, so that was out.

So what was it?

The thought was driving him _insane._

XxX

This morning, the sky was an unfortunate light grey mono-hue. It was a bit frightening. Sakura stared out her window, drifting off in her own world. She was going to see him at school today, she always did. As much as they wanted to, they couldn't avoid each other. School was the worst way to try to avoid someone. You see them all the time. And if your luck sucks, you might even be crushed against them in the crowded halls.

_That_ was the worst. But Sakura suddenly remembered that Gaara doesn't go in the halls. He stays back in the classroom until the coast is clear.

Sakura let out a chuckle as she imagined the teachers face when they're in the room alone with Gaara. It was probably very uncomfortable.

"Sakura! Ino's here!"

"Right!" Sakura called as she broke her stare from the sky. She traveled around her room, picking up books and stuffing them into her bag. Leaving her room, she forgot about her history essay, and it sat quietly on her desk.

"No breakfast?" her mom questioned.

"Hit me up!" Sakura said, holding out her hands. Her mom tossed her a cereal bar and walked back into the kitchen.

"I'm leaving!" Sakura jumped out the door.

"Hey, Ino."

"Hello, my dear Sakura! How are you this morning?" The blonde inquired as she slung a arm around Sakura.

"You broke up with him, didn't you?"

"HOW'D YOU KNOW?!"

"I know everything. And your happy mood really shows it."

Ino always seemed happier when she broke up with her boyfriends'.

"He was just so annoying!" She exclaimed loudly.

"Yeah, they're all annoying…," Sakura muttered, looking away.

"I know, right?!" Ino agreed noisily. Sakura felt pity for her friends' ex's. They were probably completely depressed about it, asking desperate afterwards. And Ino would walk past them in the halls, as if she had never spoken a word to them, grinning happily.

Sakura called her the Ice Queen.

"Sakura!" someone from behind called.

Sakura stopped, frowning. She didn't exactly want to speak to Sasuke at the moment. But, she turned to face him regardless.

"Sakura. Can I talk to you?" He asked as he caught up to her, panting slightly. He glanced at Ino, who was staring at him. "…alone."

Sakura looked at Ino, who huffed and went ahead. Sakura smiled at her friend, then turned to Sasuke. "What's up?"

"I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I don't really know what to say to you at times like that, but I try not to hurt your feelings."

Sakura was amazed that he could say such a thing and keep his cool.

"It's ok," she replied. "I can get pretty touchy, I shouldn't let it get to me. I guess you're kinda helping me." Sakura said, rubbing her head and laughing awkwardly. Sasuke just watched her.

"Well, that's all, really."

"Ok." Sakura said, not knowing what to do.

"Neh, have you seen Naruto?"

"Um, I think he might have gone ahead today." Sakura said looking at him. When she looked into his eyes, she was taken aback. He was looking towards the way to school, where Naruto might have been. He had a certain longing in his eyes. "Thanks."

With that, he walked past her, looking a bit broken. His hair hid his face, which Sakura presumed was upset.

'Are he and Naruto….'

XxX

Gaara turned the corner, looking down as he slowly walked to school.

He stopped when he heard someone call out "Sakura!".

Looking up with a glare, he watched as Uchiha talked to the pink haired girl. The blonde she was with walked away, but not before catching him staring at Sakura him. He looked her directly in the eye, glaring heatedly. She kept walking, but glanced at him a few more times, as if trying to figure what he was doing. Then, she turned to him one last time and smirked widely, as if she just found out his greatest weakness. Then she disappeared in a crowd of other girl.

Gaara frowned, wondering what she was thinking about. He averted his gaze back to Sakura, who was looking questioningly at a sulking Sasuke. Then she saw Gaara.

For a thriving few seconds, they stared at each other. Green met blue, and Gaara didn't know what to do but glare. Sakura didn't really do anything but stare at him.

Gaara suddenly found himself unable to move when she started approaching him. He just stood there, watching her come closer. When she was about five feet away, he leaned against the fence behind him.

"Hey, Gaara…" she started, as if she was going to ask a question. "You're a guy, right?"

No shit.

"Have you ever…questioned your sexuality?"

This girl's stupidity could be the death of him.

"Excuse me?"

"You see, I think my friend Sasuke is…you know. Because he and Naruto are a little close." She said, looking after Sasuke.

Gaara glanced at Sasuke also, then pushed himself off the fence. Her presence was making him jittery.

What did she think, coming up to him like that? He was her friend? He would actually answer her?

Yeah, right.

"Hey, I was talking to….," She stopped abruptly. Gaara turned to her, wondering what she was doing.

"My essay!" she cried, dropping her things and running away from him.

Something suddenly shook Gaara.

Her back. She was **running from him.**

What was she running from? **Stop! **

'Don't turn away from me like that!'

She was running, he saw her back getting smaller and smaller…like the rest of the world.

_DON'T RUN AWAY FROM ME!_

'I might **snap.'**

You will snap! And you'll take everything away!

'_She's like all the rest, scared. __**Feed off her fear**_**.'**

No.

…what's this? She's running back. She's coming back to you.

She doesn't fear you.

She fear something else, so she's running to you.

Will you comfort her?

'…_**or will I do away with her?**_'

XxX

"Sorry about that!" Sakura said as she came back, panting. She was clutching her essay, and picking up the things she dropped. "My house is right over there," she muttered, waving in some random direction behind her. She looked up, and gasped. She didn't see it as she was coming, but now that she was closer to him, she saw it clearly.

"Are you okay?!"

She dropped her things again and rushed to the cringing red-head. He was covering his face with his hands, and he seemed to be trying to find something to support himself with. He crashed against a wooden fence, and slid down to the ground.

"Hey, Gaara!" Sakura tried again. He was shivering. Sakura, beside herself, slowly wrapped her arms around his back and knees, and hovered over him.

"You're really warm, I think you're getting a fever," she whispered. She looked up the sidewalk, then behind her. No one was around. Glancing at her watch, she saw that school had already started.

"Damn," She muttered, as she took out her cell phone.

"Mom?" she asked, holding the phone to her ear.

"_What's wrong sweetie?"_

"You need to come pick me up, bring the car and the blanket."

"_Where are you?"_

"About half-way to school."

"_What's wrong?"_

"My friend collapsed."

"Friend…? Hardly," Gaara rasped out.

"You hush," Sakura said to him, bring him closer.

"_Okay, I'll be right there."_

Sakura closed her phone and hugged Gaara's head. She brought his forehead to her cheek, and felt how much hotter he was getting.

"What happened to you?" She asked, not expecting an answer. But she got one anyway.

"You're too close." He breathed out. Sakura was surprised that he was responsive at this state.

"You have a fever. I'm keeping you warm until the blanket comes."

"Well then, I'm glad your mom's here." He said warily, looked at the street. Sakura looked at him, then turned to see her mom coming over with a blanket.

She wrapped the warm cloth around him, and helped Sakura get him up and into the car.

"This happens a lot," Gaara told her when they got him into the house and on the couch.

"Okay, what do you do?" Sakura asked, sitting down next to him.

"I sleep it off. It usually goes away by the time I wake up." He sounded like he was about to faint.

"I don't think fever's work that way," Sakura said. But he was already asleep.

"Thanks, mom." She said, as she put warm tea her mom made on the coffee table. "He fell asleep."

"Are you going to school?"

"No, I think I'll stay here with him."

"Okay, take care of him, because I have to run off to work today."

"Kay'."

In a few minutes, Sakura's mom was gone. Sakura looked up behind her, and sighed as she leaned against the door.

"You should go to school."

Sakura looked up to see Gaara sitting up, looking pale.

"Lay back down," Sakura ordered as she walked over to him.

He just glared at her and picked up the tea her mom made. Sakura frowned and sat next to him. She placed a hand on his head and found that his fever was gone. But he was still shivering.

"You're fever's gone, but you're still shaking." She said, looking at his trembling hands.

"It wasn't a fever." He said, moving away from her hand and laying back down. His hair moved from his head for a moment, and then it went back in place, but not before Sakura saw that scar.

"What's that?" She said as she suddenly leaned over him and moved his hair away. "'Love?' What's-,"

Gaara grabbed her wrist, and her supporting hand slipped. She tried to catch herself before falling flat on top of Gaara, but it was too late. Her arm slammed up against the floor, which made it feel like her wrist bone shattered, and she cried out in pain as she cringed and pulled her other arm away from Gaara's grip and supported her wrist.

"Ow!" She said between her teeth. She curled up on Gaara, who was too stunned to do anything.

She was laying on top of him. But she was in pain.

"Oh, man!" Sakura panted as she looked at her limp hand. "I think I sprained my wrist…"

Gaara sat up. That's when Sakura fully realized what position they were in.

"S-sorry!" She said as she attempted to get up, but she was too flustered and she couldn't push herself up with her wrist hurting. So when she tried to sit up, she just fell against him again.

"Sorry…I can't get up myself."

"It's fine," Gaara said, surprising himself. He wrapped an arms around her back and leaned her up against the couch.

He pulled his hand out from behind her, and gently gripped her shoulder when he got dizzy. He leaned his head against his shaking hand and sighed, trying to calm his nerves.

This was a bit much for him.

Sakura watched him silently as he turned to look at her. She gave him a small smile and said, "You need more sleep."

Holding her wrist in her lap, she leaned forward and guided Gaara to her.

"You can lean against me," She whispered into his ear as she leaned a cheek against his soft hair. He fell asleep again almost instantly, laying on her lap.

The blanket was twisted and jumbled up around them, and Sakura smiled to herself.

XxX

**Lol.**

**Review, my sweet readers. **


	5. Chapter 3: Avoid

Well, I gave WTWH a horrible ending, the story's gotten a bit too old, it has wrinkles. Tis' ended. YES.

XxX

Sakura woke up to Gaara gone. Her lap was still a bit warm. Glancing around, she suspected that he had left to go home. Disappointment stung in her stomach. Something in her wanted to get to know him better. While stretching her aching limbs, wincing at the pain in her wrist, she was startled by, "It took me forever to find your bathroom. This house is like a maze."

Sakura turned, grinning. "I thought you left."

"I was, but you woke up before I could leave."

"Yes," Sakura said as she pushed herself up. "Now, you're stuck with me. Are you feeling any better?"

Gaara looked around and nodded curtly.

"Sweet."

"How about your wrist?"

"It's ok," Sakura stated, rubbing her pained joint. Looking back up to Gaara, she met his eyes. She suddenly found she didn't know what to do. If she looked away, she knew she would say something stupid. If she kept staring, she would get sucked into his beautiful gaze.

'…wait.'

Beautiful gaze? Did she seriously just think that? 'Dear god.'

"Sakura?"

"Hm?" Sakura knew her face must have looked priceless.

"What now?" He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms.

"Uh-uhm…" Sakura looked around awkwardly, trying to catch something to do. 'Damn it!' she panicked.

"I'm leaving."

"What? W-wait!" Sakura hurried around the couch and quickly chased Gaara to the entry hall.

"Gaara!"

Gaara stopped, clutching the door handle. She was touching him _again_. He can only take so much in one day. Looking down to her hand on his elbow, she slipped her fingers to just the sleeve of his jacket.

"What?"

"…stay."

Sighing, he let go of the door and moved past her. "Why are you so clingy…?"

Sakura glared and stood proudly. "I am not!"

"You are."

"You like it." Sakura said slyly.

Gaara looked at her. "Not only did you admit to it, but you just now made yourself look like a fool."

Sakura's face heated up. "Bite me!"

"Bite you?"

"It's an expression."

"Good."

"I'll kill you."

Gaara quickly glared at her. "What was that?" he growled.

Realizing her mistake, she quickly made up for it. "J-just a joke," she explained, rushing past him. "Let's talk."

She sat back on the still-warm couch, patting the empty space next to her. She held up the blanket. "It's warm and all!"

"I think I'll pass."

"Please? I saved you today! We're practically friends."

"…I don't have friends." With that, Gaara left Sakura, not letting her say anything else.

"…_and I plan on keeping it that way."_

'…Did I say something wrong?' Sakura thought, frowning.

XxX

The next few days were…interesting. Sakura would see him after school and before school. She tried avoiding him, but it wasn't working. They seemed to be each other's shadows. Sakura almost screamed when she turned the corner and was knocked over by him.

"Are you doing this on purpose?" she asked angrily.

Yeah, right.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"No, I'm not!"

"…"

Sakura gasped and smiled. "Maybe this means we're really supposed to be friends."

"No." Gaara once again moved past her and kept walking.

"Hey! Don't walk away from me!"

"I already have." He muttered as she caught up to him.

"You're a real smart ass, you know?"

He looked at her and grinned. "Tell me about it."

Hopefully that scared her.

It didn't.

"Don't look at me like that."

Damn.

"I already have."

"Stop saying that!"

"I already have."

Maybe annoying her will make her leave.

"That does not make sense," she stated.

Gaara closed his eyes and tried to ignore her.

"So, where do you live?"

This girl does not take a hint.

"You know."

"No, I don't."

"Good."

"Why are you being so cross?"

"Because I am."

"Damn it, Gaara! Why can't you just say something about yourself?"

Gaara stopped and looked at her. "You really want to know? It's because I don't let anyone get close to me. Something bad always happens to them."

"…oh, I'm fine. It'll be okay," Sakura told him, waving it off.

"No, it won't. For your own safety, please stay away from me. Just being next to me could cause your death."

Sakura stopped as Gaara walked on, and figured he was just acting cool.

"Whatever!" she called out, making a face at him. As she stupidly muttered to herself, Naruto and Sasuke walked up behind her.

"Sakura-chan?"

"Yo."

"Something up?"

"Nope."

"Oh." Naruto glanced at Sasuke, who stayed silent. "So…,"

Productive.

Sakura sighed and waved them off as she walked into her home. She leaned against the door and moaned. "Is that you, Sakura?"

"No, mom, it's your lemon juice."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know," Sakura replied, stretching her tired legs.

XxX

"Neh, Gaara-kun, we saw a girl."

"Yeah, this girl had pink hair."

"Pink's a lighter shade of blood."

Gaara's eye's snapped over to the shadows following him in the alleyways he passed.

"Go away."

All of them burst into laughter, their voices echoing in the tight walls.

"After killing your mom and dad, we figured no one we killed would get to you."

"But this pink-haired girl seems close to you."

"If you call annoying close," Gaara mumbled.

Suddenly, one became serious. "We aren't joking around, Gaara-kun. Nothing's worked before to get you, surely, this will. Either that, or your soul mate dies."

They didn't appear in the next alley he passed. Gaara kept walking, ignoring the shadows following him.

XxX

Sakura sat on her bed, wondering. That's all she could do, really. She didn't know anything. She could only guess. She didn't know anything about him, where he lived, who his family was, (if he had any…) or even what type of classes he was in.

'I'll confront him at school. I'll force him to listen to me,' Sakura thought, as she sucked in.

The next morning, unfortunately, Sakura got what she wanted.

XxX

Gaara left when the bell rang. It was a mistake. But he got kicked out; he didn't feel like arguing with the dense substitute teacher who wasn't fazed by his glare. Now, he was in a small and dark gap between a wall and some lockers, watching a very tight crowd squeeze by. It usually doesn't take them that long to get by, unless he's having a bad day. He watched as preppy and loud girls screamed in laughter, reaching for each other and making overdramatic assumptions. He recognized the tall blonde with dark blue eyes as the one who gave a him that annoying look. Maybe it was only annoying because she caught him staring at Sakura.

Sakura. Speaking of her….

"Hey, Gaara!"

Gaara silently moaned as he saw pink hair split from _another _group of girls. Why was she here?

"Hey, Gaara." She said again as she slipped between a few people to get into the secluded opening. After brushing herself off, she smiled up at him.

"Hey," again. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Didn't I already tell you?" Gaara snapped automatically, not wanting to engage in conversation. "You shouldn't be near me."

"I know, I know…but I have a few questions! I want to get to know you."

Gaara could already feel the excessive migraine seeping through his head.

"…Just get-,"

"OW! Jerk!" Sakura cut him off, turning around and hitting someone who bumped into her too roughly. Students were slowly piling into his space, and Gaara was getting irritated. Moving in closer, Sakura kept an eye over her shoulder, making sure no one else shoved into her. She was getting close. Gaara pushed himself up against the wall as much as he could. Now that he wasn't sick, or about to faint, he was fully aware of her being **way too close**. He knew he should have waited until after the bell. Sakura was still eyeing the crowd, muttering words like 'rude'. She obviously forgot the situating she was in. Soon, she would be merely an inch away from him. And that was the last thing he needed.

If you were too close to him, an overwhelming lust washed over him.

Blood.

But that's what was bothering him so much. When they were in her house, there was a different kind of lust. It was still lust of course. Gaara could recognize the feeling before he even _felt_ it.

No. This was different. It wasn't dangerous.

The action itself wouldn't kill.

Maybe the outcome, or the possible consequence could, but not the action. When he did something to her, it wouldn't result in death.

…wait.

"When I…" '_Did_ something to her?'

"Hm?"

Every thought was tossed aside in Gaara's head as he looked down at Sakura. The simple, inquiring noise pulled him right from his thoughts. As he examined her, he saw all of the things he couldn't see before. There was light pink set on her beautifully pale face. Her eyes gleamed from the light behind her. And soon she shuffled even closer.

"Hey, you shouldn't clench your jaw so much," she said. Her voice was cracking. "You'll get a headache."

Then she reached up. It was slow. So slow, Gaara felt like he could run away, and by the time her hand reached its destination, he was miles away. Painfully long. Gaara wondered whether if it was because he desired it, or if he deeply dreaded it.

The very tip of her warm fingers touched his jaw. It felt…padded to Gaara. Soft. He had to compel himself not to lean into her hand. It felt too good. A sanctuary, and he would do something that he didn't want to do. She would pull him under her warmth. Take him all the way to natural high. Overwhelming, he liked it. He _loved_ it. It was too much.

Suddenly, dangerous realization hit him.

She was touching him.

XxX

Wow. Seriously, I'm sorry for the long delay. I had the worst writers block. But I do have the next chapter outline done, so deff before Christmas. *thumbs-up!!*


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